Percussive firing mechanism for breech-loading guns



July 22, 1924; r

. O. D. LUCAS rEncussxvn FIRING MECHANISM'FOR BREECH LOADING GUNS Fil edMarch 5. 1925 Patented July 22, 1924.

UNITED STATES istazsa PATENT OFF-ICE,

OWEN DAVID LUCAS, OF BAYSWATER, LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO VICKERSLIMITED, OF WESTMINSTER, ENGLAND, A BRITISH COMPANY.

PEROU'SSIVE FIRING MECHANISM FOR BREEOI-I-LOADING GUNS.

Application filed March 5,

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OWEN DAVID LUCAS, a subject of the King of GreatBritain, residing at 49 Linden Gardens, Bayswater, in the county ofLondon, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in orRelating to Percussive Firing Mechanism for Breech-Loading Guns, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to percussive firing mechanism for breech loadingguns, particularly for guns used in projecting signal shells into theair for signalling to aircraft from an aerodrome or a ship.

According to the invention the firing mechanism comprises a hammer whichnormally occupies a position some distance behind the firing pin, a searfor holding the hammer in this position and a movable firing memberwhich operates upon the hammer through the intermediary of a firingspring and which at a. predetermified point in its movement disengagesthe sear from the hammer to permit the latter to be impelled forward bythe energized spring and strike the firing pin. A second spring operatedupon by the firing member may also be provided for returning this memberand the hammer to their original position when the said member is;released.

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readilycarried into effect, the same will now be described more fully withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figures 1, 2 and 3 arerespectively asectional plan, a rear elevation and a side elevationshowing a constructional form of the firing mechanism in accordance withthe invention.

Figure l is a rear elevation of Figure 1 with certain parts removed inorder to show other parts more clearly, and

Figure 5 is a rear elevation showing more clearly the co-operationbetween the firing plunger, the scar and the hammer.

A is the aforesaid firing member which, in the example shown, is in theform of a plunger arranged to slide in a casing A transversely to theaxis of the firing pin A and formed with a recess a to receive thefiring spring a which is preferably of V shaped type and is normallyonly slightly stressed. B is the hammer which is in the form 1923.Serial No. 622,765.

posed some distance behind the rear end of the firing pm A and the otherarm 6 extends forwardly and is forked to embrace 'a reduced portion ofthe firing plunger A.

One limb of the firing spring a bears against the ends of the forked arm6 and the other end bears against the inner wall of the recess a in thisplunger. C is the spring for returning the plunger A after firing and isalso preferably V shaped with one limb disposed in a slot in the plungerand the other limb arranged in contact with a stop piece a on the casingA D is the aforesaid sear which lies parallel to the plunger A and ispivoted at D to the casing so as to rock about a horizontal axisparallel to the axis of the firing pin. The nose d of the sear engageswith one of the limbs of the forked arm b -of the hammer and the sear isprovided between its nose and its pivot with a projection al having aninclined surface. When the plunger A is moved to fire the gun, the twosprings a C are energized and at a suitable point in the travel of theplunger A a shoulder a (Figure 5) comes against the aforesaid inclinedsurface of the projection d on the sear D and the latter is therebyrocked to bring its nose out of engagement with the forked arm 79 of thehammer which is then impelled, under the action of the energized firingspring a to cause the arm I) to, strike the projecting rear end of thefiring pin A The plunge-r A is then released and is moved back to itsoriginal position by the other spring C, the hammer being returned toits original position by the engagement of a shoulder a on the plungerwith the forked arm 6 During this return movement of the hammer the saidforked arm bears against an inclined surface on the. outer portion ofthe nose (Z of the sear D and rocks the latter against the resistance ofits spring (1 which, when the hammer reaches the end of its returnmovement, reacts to move the nose d into engagement with the said forkedarm. The firing pin A is controlled by a separate spring a as is wellunderstood and these parts are carried by the breech screw A which ispreferably constructed and carried in the manner described in mycopending application Ser. No. 622,516, filed March 3, 1923.

The plunger A may be moved in the firing direction by a bell-crank leverA pivoted about a vertical axis a to the casing A One arm of this leverextends forwardly and engages with a slot in the plunger A and thesecond arm extends transversely and projects beyond the casing A Firingmovementis imparted to the plunger by a pull on the said second arm andthis pull may be given by a lanyard. lVhen the herein described firingmechanism is used in conjunction with the improvements set forth in thespecification of my above mentioned application, the said lanyard mayoperate upon a springcontrolled slide disposed in one of the tubularstrut members supporting the gun or barrel, and this slide may have apin projecting through a slot in the tubular member for engaging withthe end of the said second arm of the bell crank lever A the lanyard maypass over a swivelling pulley carried at the lower end of the saidtubular member. This arrangement is shown in the drawings of thecomplete specification of the said application Ser. No. 622,516.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesis 1. Percussive firing mechanism comprising a firing pin, a pivotedhammer adapted when actuated to strike the firing pin, a firing membermounted to slide transversely of the firing pin, a firing springoperat-ively interposed between the firing member and a part of thepivoted hammer, a sear for normally holding the hammer in itsinoperative position, means to actuate the sliding firing member, andmeans operative during the sliding movement of the firing member todisengage the sear from the hammer to permit the latter to be actuatedby said spring.

2. Percussive firing mechanism compris ing a firing pin, a pivotedhammer adapted when actuated to strike the firing pin, a firing membermounted to slide transversely of the firing pin, a firing springoperatively interposed between the firing member and a part of thepivoted hammer, a sear for normally holding the hammer in itsinoperative position, means to actuate the sliding firing member, meansoperative during the sliding movement of the firing member to disengagethe sear from the hammer to permit the lat-- ter to be actuated by saidspring, and a spring for returning said sliding firing member and thehammer to their original position.

8. Percussive firing mechanism comprising a firing pin, a pivoted bellcrank lever constituting a hammer adapted when actuated to strike thefiring pin, a plunger mounted to slide transversely of the firing pinsaid plunger being provided with a recess, a firing spring located insaid recess, one end of which operates on the sliding plunger, and theother end of which operates on one arm of the bell crank lever, a searfor normally holding the bell crank lever in its inoperative position,means to actuate the sliding plunger, and means operative during thesliding movement of the plunger to disengage the sear from the bellcrank lever to permit the latter to be actuated by said sprin 4.Percussive firing mechanism comprising a firing pin, a pivoted bellcrank lever constituting a hammer adapted when actuated to strike thefiring pin, a plunger mounted to slide transversely of the firing pin,said plunger being provided with a recess, a firing spring located insaid recess, one end of which operates on the sliding plunger, and theother end of which operates on one arm of the bell crank lever, a searhaving a projection engaging with one arm of the bell crank lever fornormally holding the same in its inoperative position, and also havingan inclined surface with which a part of said plunger cooperates todisengage said projection from the arm of the bell crank lever, andmeans for actuating said plunger.

OW'EN DAVID LUCAS.

